Setbacks seen for Islamic State in Syria, Iraq, Libya

BEIRUT -- U.S.-backed fighters in Syria converged from three sides on an Islamic State stronghold near the Turkish border Thursday, while Iraqi special forces pushed deeper into Fallujah, one of the last bastions of the militant group in western Iraq.

In Libya, IS militants were fleeing their stronghold of Sirte as forces loyal to a U.N.-brokered government advanced, with some fighters reportedly cutting off beards and long hair to blend in with civilians.

The anti-IS offensives posed a significant challenge to the extremist group as it tries to stave off multiple attacks across parts of Syria and Iraq, where it declared a so-called caliphate in 2014 and more recently seized territory in chaotic Libya.

If the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces capture Manbij, it will be the biggest strategic defeat for IS in Syria since July 2015, when it lost the border town of Tal Abyad, a major supply route to the militants' de facto capital of Raqqa.

Manbij, which had a prewar population of 100,000, is one of the largest IS-held urban areas in northern Aleppo province and a waypoint on an IS supply line between Raqqa and the Turkish frontier.

In a sign of the town's perceived significance, the SDF's advances were accompanied by intense airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition battling the IS militants.

The U.S. Central Command said the coalition has conducted more than 105 strikes in support of the battle to liberate Manbij.

The airstrikes recalled the battle for the Kurdish town of Kobani in northern Syria.

That campaign saw hundreds of U.S. airstrikes to support Kurdish forces who wrested Kobani from IS in January 2015 after four months of fighting that left the town in ruins.

Since then, members of the U.S. and French military have joined in to advise the anti-IS forces in northern Syria.

Syrian journalist Mustafa Bali, who visited the front lines in Manbij, said the extremists didn't appear to be preparing to withdraw from the town as they had from other areas.

On Wednesday, black smoke covered Manbij as militants set tires ablaze in an apparent attempt to cut visibility from coalition warplanes, he said.

"Daesh is preparing for a battle inside the city," Bali said, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.

SDF official Nasser Haj Mansour said Wednesday about 15,000 civilians had fled.

A statement by the Military Council of the City of Manbij, which is part of the SDF, said all roads from the east, north and south have been cut.

Its forces are close enough to target IS militants inside the town, but they are holding off storming it to avoid civilian casualties, the statement added.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said SDF fighters are about 800 yards from the last main road linking Manbij with the city of Aleppo.

At least 132 IS militants, 21 SDF fighters and 37 civilians have been killed since the SDF offensive began May 31, the Observatory said.

In France, an official confirmed French special forces are offering training and advice to SDF fighters.

The French forces are with SDF fighters who are fighting IS, according to the official from the French Defense Ministry.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk publicly.